Canuckz.com » Sergei Shirokov

The Replacements

Tonyz Tanti — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:07:54 +0000

In a weird twist this season, the Canucks have all 8 of their defencemen healthy (defencemen usually are the most injury prone), and a whole whack of injuries to forward, and then of course there’s Roberto Luongo. The result has been a lot of dull hockey, with the team trying to play more defensive due to their lack of fire power. With that said, here’s a review of the replacements for Luongo, Daniel Sedin, Pavol Demitra and Ryan Johnson (as well as Kyle Wellwood and Rick Rypien here and there).

Michael Grabner:

Chicks are digging the speedy Austrian sniper, and why not? Grabner has been impressive with the big club. He has five points in his first nine NHL games and has been generating a lot of scoring chances. Unfortunately, a replacement for this replacement will be needed. Grabner was lost to an ankle injury that he suffered during the pre-game hallway warm-up. It’s been that kind of season for the Canucks (kind of reminds me of when the Canucks lost all those defencemen in the 2007-08 season and Lukas Krajicek slipped on some ice and injured himself).

Tanner Glass:

Glass has looked good thus far. Sunday’s game against Colorado was probably his best, notching a goal and hitting a crossbar. He’s been pretty reliable, finishing all of his checks and responsible in his own end.

Aaron Rome:

The Canucks’ forward (forward!? Yes, forward) has been impressive since being moved from defence. Vigneault moved him from defence to forward because of all the injuries up front, and must have sure liked him there. He lead all Canucks forwards in ice time in Friday’s game versus Anaheim. That’s clearly ridiculous, but he hasn’t looked out of place at forward (unlike Mathieu Schneider who looked completely lost in his one game at forward… Vigneault clearly hasn’t heard of not being able to teach an old dog new tricks).

Alexandre Bolduc:

Bolduc, like Grabner, has also been injured since being called-up. While healthy, he played pretty much error free, but didn’t offer anything notable.

Sergei Shirokov:

The “Pocket Russian Rocket” hasn’t been able to lift-off as of yet. In six games in the NHL, he has been unable to get a single point and is a minus four. Disappointing, sure, but even more disappointing is that he hasn’t been noticeable. He has been sent to the Moose a couple of times already, and continues to rip it up down there, but so far he hasn’t been able to translate that to the NHL level.

Andrew Raycroft:

Raycroft has played pretty well in his limited action. I thought he was unfairly pulled in the loss to Anaheim on Friday, but responded with a shutout against his old team, the Colorado Avalanche. He wasn’t tested a lot against Colorado, but still, I have more confidence in him than any back-up goalie they’ve had since Alex Auld. He should get all of the starts until Luongo comes back.

What’s Wrong With this Team?

Tonyz Tanti — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 08:28:24 +0000

They’re 0-3 and in less than one week have gone from cup contenders to talentless bums (according to the bandwagon douchebags anyways). Well, the fact of the matter is that this team isn’t as good as those early season predictions (loyal Canuckz.com readers already knew this after reading this post) and they’re not as bad as their 0-3 record suggests. I think what’s wrong with the Canucks is a combination of them getting cocky, believing their own preseason hype, and being out of sync. Being out of sync can be attributed to them not icing a single game in the preseason with their full line-up. I believe they kept too many prospects right to the final game of the preseason. So that’s the bad news.

The good news is, they’ve actually played pretty well in large portions of all three games. The Canucks have outplayed their opponents in about 70% of their games, but haven’t been able to score. Conversely, their opponents have capitalized on their chances, putting Luongo and company in a big hole.

Random Thoughts

More good news: Luongo won’t be this bad for long and the Canucks won’t be this snake-bit for long.

When the Canucks have played with urgency, they’ve been very good. The problem is that by the time they decided to play with urgency on Monday night, they were down by three goals. Same thing against Calgary.

The Canucks penalty kill needs to get better. Their opponents have absolutely lit them up on the man advantage: Columbus was 1-3, Colorado was 2-6, and Calgary was 2-3. You can’t expect to win with penalty killing like that.

Ryan Johnson has been on the ice for all six goals against while shorthanded! Not good for someone who is supposed to be a penalty killing specialist. Rick Rypien has been on for three of them. Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows haven’t been on for a goal against while on the penalty kill.

Five of the six power play goals against have been scored by the other team’s second unit.

Maybe they ought to keep one of Burrows or Kesler on the ice at all times while on the penalty kill.

The Sergei Shirokov experiment may be over. Alain Vigneault juggled his lines after they were down 4-1 against Columbus and Shirokov ended up on the 4th line with Ryan Johnson and Rick Rypien. Shirokov’s old linemates, Ryan Kesler and Mikael Samuelsson, were much more effective playing with Mason Raymond in the 3rd period. Look for Tanner Glass to be inserted into the lineup against Montreal.

What are the game presentation people doing at GM Place? The Canucks are now hitting the ice to some mellow song by Cold Play after a sappy intro on the big screen. Not surprisingly, this put the home crowd a bit to sleep to start the game. I know it was Columbus on a Monday night, but I have never seen a quieter home opener to start the game, and the game presentation certainly contributed to it.

Anybody notice that there were an awful lot of tickets available for the home opener? It’s become abundantly clear that the sellout streak has ended (unless you count giving away hundreds of tickets) and it’s not because of a lack of fan support. Simply put, the Aquilinis have now priced people right out of the building. Seriously, how many people can afford to spend over $200 on a mediocre corner seat in the lower bowl, for Columbus on a Monday night no less? The entire city of Vancouver is crazy about this team right now and for the Canucks to price tickets so high that they can’t sell them is just plain greedy.

And now, something to help cheer us cheer up…

Drop the Puck!!!

Tonyz Tanti — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:41:06 +0000

It’s finally here. Game 1 of the 2009-10 season and I’m going to say it. The Canucks are overrated. Not that I don’t think they have a good team, but this is getting ridiculous. On TSN’s preview show last night Ray Ferraro and Pierre McGwire picked them to go to the Stanley Cup Finals. TSN has ranked them as 6th best in the league. Not to be outdone, Sportsnet has them ranked 6th also. The Province is calling this edition of the Canucks the best ever. I like the moves that Gillis has made, and this is a playoff team, but what really has changed from a year ago? From my view, they’ve switched Ohlund, Vaananen, Sundin and Pyatt for Ehrhoff, Schneider, Samuelsson and Shirokov. An improvement, sure, but not drastic changes.

For me, the biggest improvement will come with a healthy full season from Luongo. Can we expect young players like Wellwood, Raymond, Bernier and Edler to improve? Sure. But can we expect the same kind of dream seasons from Kesler, Burrows and Mitchell? Who knows.

The Canucks are a very good team, but lets not get too excited here. They’ve improved slightly from last season.

So with that said, here are Canuckz.com’s official predictions for the upcoming season!

Western Conference:

1. San Jose: Don’t believe all the negative publicity. The top regular season team from a year ago got better with the addition of Heatley.

2. Detroit: They won’t be as good losing Hossa and Hudler, but they had a great season last year despite terrible goaltending from Osgood. They’ll be a force once again.

3. Vancouver: They’ll need to fight off Calgary for top spot in the division

4. Anaheim: Lost Pronger, but they have arguably the best group of top 6 forwards in the NHL.

5. Chicago: Good young team, but Huet in goal and missing Hossa to start the season will hurt.

6. St Louis: Young team caught fire in the second half of last season, that should carry-over to this year.

7. Calgary: Coaching better with Sutter, defence better with Bouwmeester, but losing Cammalleri and an improved conference will hurt.

8. Edmonton: New coach, better goal-tending and improved young players will sneak the Oilers into the playoffs this season.

9. Columbus: Hard playing in a tough division.

10. Los Angeles: Improved sure, but still question marks on defence and in goal.

11. Dallas: Having Morrow back will help, but their defence is in shambles.

12. Minnesota: No Gaborik, no Lemaire, no playoffs.

13. Nashville: Team always defies logic and plays well… until this year.

14. Phoenix: Too many distractions, too little talent.

15. Colorado: Life after Joe will be tough.

Eastern Conference:

1. Washington: A full year with Varlamov and a talented/motivated lineup.

2. Boston: Lost Kessel, but other youngsters like Lucic, Wheeler and Krejci will pick up the slack.

3. Pittsburgh: Stanley Cup hangover will get them off to a slow start until they pick it up.

4. Philadelphia: Can Emery and Boucher hold up in goal? They’ll be average but adding Pronger will help.

5. New Jersey: A healthy Brodeur and Jacques Lemaire means they’ll be competitive.

6. Carolina: Basically the same team that caught fire in the second half of last season.

7. Buffalo: A healthy Ryan Miller and a weak division will be the recipe for a return to the playoffs.

8. Ottawa: Head coach Cory Clouston will get the Sens to over-achieve.

9. Montreal: Not enough secondary scoring.

10. NY Rangers: Tough division, can Gaborik stay healthy?

11. Tampa Bay: Can’t be as bad as last season, can they?

12. Florida: No Jay-Bo, honeymoon with their coach is over too.

13. Toronto: Not enough scoring from this truculent bunch.

14. Atlanta: Still too many questions in goal.

15. NY Islanders: A glorified AHL team, who knew making your backup goalie your new GM would be a bad idea?

The Bubble Boys

Tonyz Tanti — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:14:06 +0000

This year has been the most competitive Canucks camp in recent memory, with so many players with a realistic chance to make the team. Head coach Alain Vigneault has a lot of tough decisions ahead of him, particularly concerning players on the bubble. Numerous young and old guys are fighting for spots at forward, defense and in goal. Here’s where the “bubble boys” stack up so far:

Goaltenders:

Perhaps none of the battles have been as close as Schneider versus Raycroft for the backup job. Both have played well in their games, but conventional wisdom would suggest if it’s close, they’d give the job to Schneider. One would think that the Canucks want desperately to shop Schneider and then trade him as soon as possible while his stock is high. The thinking is that Schneider has already done everything he can do at the AHL level and that his trade value can only go up if he proves something in the NHL. It wouldn’t come without consequence though, Schneider’s cap hit of $1.084 million is more than double the minimum wage $500,000 hit from Raycroft. Raycroft would also have to clear waivers, while Schneider doesn’t. Should be interesting to see how Gillis makes the jigsaw puzzle come together.

Defense:

Shane O’Brien has been impressive so far in the preseason, looking more mobile and making good decisions with the puck. Everyone knows he’s tough, but he’ll need to be reliable defensively to deserve his new $1.7 million deal. Christian Ehrhoff has 4 points in 2 games, and is looking like he is solidifying a spot on the first unit power play. Brad Lukowich is a steady defensive defenceman, which means he won’t dazzle anyone, even when he’s at his best. Look for Lukowich to be their #7 or 8 defenceman, along with O’Brien. Mathieu Schneider hasn’t played a game in the preseason yet, presumably resting the 40 year blueliner for the regular season. It would be hard to imagine them not having him in mind for their top 6 if they are resting him in the preseason. Another impressive player in the preseason has been Aaron Rome. Barring injury/trade, I give Rome very little chance at cracking the Canucks roster. The resumes of the other 8 defencemen in camp are far superior and I don’t think there’s anything Rome can do to change that.

Forwards:

The Canucks currently have 13 proven NHL forwards under contract and I believe that all of them will make the team. Mason Raymond and Rick Rypien in particular have looked very impressive. Of the 13, Jannik Hansen is in the most danger of being thrown on waivers. That list of 13 forwards also includes the injured Pavol Demitra, which means that at least one of the bubble players will get a shot on opening day.

That’s where things get interesting. Cody Hodgson, Michael Grabner and Sergei Shirokov make-up the list of youngsters trying to crack the Canucks roster for the first time while Mark Parrish, Ronald Petrovicky and Dave Scatchard are all veterans on tryout contracts. None of the veterans have shown enough to earn an NHL gig thus far. Michael Grabner appears to be a young sniper who doesn’t score, and that’s a bad combination. Cody Hodgson has looked ok, but I don’t think he looks quite at home in the NHL yet. I think there’s a good chance that Hodgson will be sent back to junior. That leaves Sergei Shirokov. He’s impressed everyone since his first day at rookie camp and, assuming he can recover from his minor injury set-back, is my pick to make the Canucks roster.

And now for a trip back down memory lane… Possibly the greatest preseason goal ever scored:

Bad Luck Canucks

Tonyz Tanti — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:27:03 +0000

I woke up this morning and read a couple of troubling stories about some Canuck prospects. Arguably the Canucks best player of the preseason, Sergei “the Pocket Russian Rocket” Shirokov, suffered a mild first degree sprain on his knee in the Canucks 3-1 win over Edmonton last night. They are hoping to have him back for next weekend, which leaves him little time to impress the coaches enough to crack the opening day lineup.

I also read a story by Jason Botchford, describing Michael Grabner as “invisible” in last night’s win. I must say that I have been very disappointed in his play this preseason also. He is supposed to be a prolific scorer, and should have shown more than he has. He’s getting dangerously close to “bust” status if he can’t crack the Canucks lineup soon.

Couple these two stories with the back ailment that Cody Hodgson is recovering from and I couldn’t help but think back to all the bad luck the Canucks seem to have had concerning draft picks. From losing the wheel turn in 1970 and having to select Dale Tallon, while the Sabres got to choose future Hall of Famer Gilbert Perreault, to giving up too soon on a young Cam Neely. It seems like the Canucks don’t get a lot of breaks. When they get a good draft pick, they trade him away prematurely (see Cam Neely, Mike Peca and RJ Umberger). When they have a bust on their hands, they seem to hold onto him forever (see Fedor Fedorov, Jim Sandlak and Nathan Smith).

Now, there are exceptions like Pavel Bure, but overall, the Canucks just seem to be cursed. Unless Bure can get into the Hall of Fame (which he has been unsuccessful so far), the Canucks are the only team (aside from the teams that joined the NHL in the 90s or later) to not have a player in the Hall of Fame that played the bulk of their career with the franchise. Every other team has had at least one Hall of Famer, like Dale Hawerchuk (Winnipeg/Phoenix), Rod Langway (Washington) and Ron Francis (Hartford/Carolina). Instead, the Canucks have had players who have been good, not great, like Trevor Linden, Stan Smyl, and Markus Naslund. All three are extremely unlikely to get a sniff of the Hall.

Lets hope Hodgson and Shirokov can get 100% healthy, and help the Canucks ASAP and have great careers. Lets also hope that Cory Schneider can find his form in the NHL to give the Canucks a good bargaining chip to play with. But if history is to repeat itself, start worrying!

Is this for real?!

Who Are These Guys? Canucks Win 2-1 in First Game of Pre-Season

Tonyz Tanti — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:46:50 +0000

The Canucks got their first exhibition game underway in Terrace, BC versus the New York Islanders as part of Kraft’s Hockeyville extravaganza. The game presented a once in a lifetime opportunity for Terrace residents to see the Canucks live in their hometown. Too bad the rosters of both teams more closely resembled that of an AHL roster. Now, the Islanders lineup looks like an AHL lineup at the best of times, but shame on the Canucks for not icing a more respectable lineup, given the circumstances. I know that training camp just started, but it was only about a 2 hour flight (if that) and the Canucks should have tried to put on a bit more of a show. The biggest names playing for Vancouver were Kyle Wellwood and Shane O’Brien. Maybe they didn’t need to send Luongo, but how about the Sedins, Burrows or Kesler? They would have never dared to ice such a lineup on GM Place ice. Even the most die hard hockey fan would have had a tough time identifying a lot of the players on the ice.

That being said, it looked like the people of Terrace had a great time. It’s a real cool event that the league puts on. To the credit of the Canucks, they did send Willie Mitchell and Kevin Bieksa to sign autographs and talk to kids. Ron MacLean and Don Cherry were also on hand, undoubtedly making them the biggest celebrities on hand (with apologies to Tommy Larscheid of course).

So what about the game? The Canucks won 2-1, with two notable performances. Cory Schneider stopped every shot he faced in the half game he played and Sergei Shirokov scored both Canuck goals. I must say that I was very impressed with Shirokov. His speed, skill and vision on the ice were nice to see, as was his intensity. He’s got an outside shot to make the team. Speaking of which, isn’t Michael Grabner supposed to have speed and skill with an outside shot to make the team? He was invisible Monday night.

Monday also marked the start of the comeback trail for Dave Scatchard, but he’s not the only veteran NHLer on a tryout with the Canucks. Ronald Petrovicky and Mark Parrish are also on unpaid tryouts with the big club. Parrish is probably the most intriguing one of the bunch, he is a six-time 20 goal scorer and is only 32. Perhaps in another year I’d give one of these three a chance to make the team, but in a year where the Canucks already have too many forwards and have young guys pushing to make it, a two-way deal is the best that these three can hope for.

Shirokov Showtime:

Hodgson Injury, Vigneault’s Contract, Cloutier’s Comeback and More!

Tonyz Tanti — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:02:52 +0000

Nice to see Cody Hodgson back on the ice this week at Canucks prospect camp. Hodgson injured his back from the 120+ games he played at the NHL exhibition/OHL regular season and playoffs/AHL playoffs and had surgery on it over the summer. Everyone is praying that this isn’t going to be a chronic problem that plagues him (that would be just the Canucks luck wouldn’t it?). He’s not participating in any contact drills, so it’s not 100% yet. Here’s hoping that the Canucks don’t rush him at all and allow him to get to 100%. You know a young guy like that with all sorts of expectations will probably want to rush it.

Speaking of prospects camp, anyone else notice that they’re practicing on the old UBC rink (Father Bauer Arena) and not the brand new Thunderbird Arena built for the Olympics? I’ve skated on both and the ice is a lot better in the old rink. Thunderbird Arena is just too warm. They might want to think about that before, say, the world comes to visit.

Seems like Alain Vigneault is a lame duck coach… for now at least. That shouldn’t last long though, Mike Gillis has said that he wants to extend the entire coaching staff. The question is, when? Gillis said that he wanted to do that in May, so you’d wonder why it would take until September for it to happen. That said, that seems to be Gillis’ style, so expect Vigneault to get an extension soon.

Nice to see Dan Cloutier is at least on the NHL radar again. Cloutier is trying out for the Detroit Red Wings. There’s no guaranteed money for him, but if he impresses, he could be Chris Osgood’s backup (which is interesting as they are both known for giving up goals from centre ice, but I digress). I hope Cloutier finds a way back to the NHL. He’s been criticized heavily, often warranted, but often unwarranted as well. Most of his poor play was injury-based. He was a middle of the road starting goalie when healthy.

Keeping the theme of former Canucks going, nice to see Taylor Pyatt finally found a new team. Pyatt signed a one-year deal with the Hamilton Phoenix Coyotes last week. It would have been sad to see him lose his job/lifestyle in the NHL after all he has already had to deal with.

How good has Sergei Shirokov looked so far at prospect’s camp? Well, he’s being compared to Austin Powers. Is that a good thing? I’m not sure, but video clips like the one below are nice to see:

Sergei Shirokov… So Who is This Guy Exactly?

Tonyz Tanti — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:10:54 +0000

Not since Pavel Bure has a Canucks sixth round draft pick generated so much interest before ever playing an NHL game. The Canucks signed their 2006 draft pick Sergei Shirokov on Monday. This begs the question: so who is this guy exactly? Well, Shirokov looks like he has the potential to be a steal of a draft pick. Last season, he lead CSKA Moscow of the KHL in points with 41 points in 57 games. Not too shabby considering his age (22) and the age of the other players he’s playing against. Of course, there are many examples of players who dominate in Europe and fall flat on their face in the NHL (hello Pavel Brendl, hello Jiri Dopita) so this should be taken with a grain of salt. Regardless, the Canucks might have an unexpected blue chip prospect on their hands here. He’s probably a long shot to make the team this year, but could be in their plans by next season.

And now for the best news of the Canucks signing a Russian player, Ra-ra-rasputin! Enjoy…